Oil and gas well drilling systems include numerous types of piping, referred to generally as “tubulars”. Tubulars include drill pipes, casings, and other threadably connectable oil and gas well structures. Long “strings” of joined tubulars, or drill strings, are typically used to drill a wellbore and to prevent collapse of the wellbore after drilling. The drill strings are typically stored in a structure commonly referred to as a fingerboard. Fingerboards typically include a plurality of vertically elongated support structures or “fingers” each capable of receiving a plurality of drill strings. Each drill string is typically individually secured to one of the fingers by a corresponding latch, which is movable between a locked and an unlocked position.
In some prior fingerboards, the latches are manually moved between the locked and unlocked positions by an oil or gas well worker who walks across the fingers to manually move the latches to the desired locked or unlocked position. Due to the extreme height of the fingers, (in some instances 90 feet tall or taller) the manual operation of the latches by the worker is undesirably dangerous. This practice is particularly dangerous when the worker moves the latches between the locked and unlocked position by kicking the latches into or out of the locked position as the worker walks across the fingers, which is not an uncommon practice.
In an effort to make fingerboards less dangerous some manufacturers include automated latches that are controlled remote from the latches. Although these latches decrease the danger to the worker, they are much more complicated and much more expensive than manually operated latches. Accordingly, a need exists for a fingerboard having an inexpensive latch system that is safe to operate.